1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device for analyzing a surrounding image around a monitor-side vehicle obtained by an in-vehicle camera and detecting a presence of a vehicle around the monitor-side vehicle, and a vehicle detection device provided therewith.
2. Background Art
Examples of a technique for analyzing a surrounding image of a monitor-side vehicle obtained by an in-vehicle camera to detect a presence of a vehicle around a monitor-side vehicle include techniques described in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-104113A and JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-182086A below.
The technique described in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-104113A uses the optical flow technique for detecting a movement of a feature point in an image, and detects a moving object (a vehicle) from a difference in movement in an image between a background and the moving object.
The technique described in JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2006-182086A detects a vehicle according to whether a shape pattern analogous to any of a plurality of previously stored shape patterns exists in an image or not.